With few other local events on the calendar Parkruns were the main attraction for most athletes at the weekend, and the Nova run Prestatyn produced an interesting glimpse of the past plus a bright pointer for the future.
The first lady home – in 26th place overall – was former Welsh international Katie Parry from Rhyl. She was a member of Prestatyn Running Club as a junior but has been a member of Leeds City AAC in recent years.
Injuries have restricted her running of late, her last race having been in 2016.
On Saturday she clocked 24.06, but just one place and one second behind her was one of Prestatyn’s current young prospects, Eve Manifold, whose 24.07 was a pb.
There were 16 Prestatyn members in the 222-strong field for the Nova event, with 18-year-old Oliver Birch-Jones leading the contingent home in sixth place.
The placings were: 6 Oliver Birch-Jones 19.15, 9 EdShirt 20.43, 22 Jamie Betts 23.53, 25 Marc Jones 24.03, 26 Katie Parry 24.06, 27 Eve Manifold 24.07 (pb), 28 Paul Sanders 24.08, 32 Steve Weedman 24.28, 33 Meg Lewis 24.56, 41 Reg Jonas 25.26, 49 Andy Clark 26.00, 70 Sophie Johnson 27.16, 74 Mike Davis 27.38, 96 Grahame Shone 29.56, 101 Mandy Cartwright 30.04, 138 Jo Lewis 32.53, 143 Emma Birchall 33.25, 218 Nem James 64.11.
Other Parkrun results were:-
Chester: 228 Andrew Carter 31.00.
Erddig: 222 Steve Hatfield 40.24.
Milford Waterfront (Milford Haven): 75 Claudia Smith 30.58.
Queens Park, Glasgow: 12 Dave Ellis 21.05.
Trentham Gardens: 61 Martin Cortvriend 23.55
Unsurprisingly, Ann Claire Jones managed to find a race and it turned out to be a little out of the ordinary. The Open to Offas event which started in Cilcain was organised by Liverpool Long Distance Walkers’ Association and offered three different distances.
Ann Claire chose the 15.8-mile shortest option and finished second overall –and first lady – in 3h 23m, though she admitted that the majority of participants were walkers.
The weather was pretty murky for the race, but was better than that faced by Sophie Johnson and Mandy Cartwright the previous week in the inaugural “Ogwen 25”.
The challenging event included boggy fields, slate trails, boulder scrambles and steep steps, and called for some navigational skills. The pair ran together and were relieved to reach the finishing line in 4h 54m.
The club’s annual prizegiving which had to be postponed last month, will be held at the Scala in Prestatyn High Street on August 31
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